Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, C. 600–900 Sarah Foot Frontmatter More Information

Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-73908-5 - Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600–900 Sarah Foot Frontmatter More information

Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600--900

This major new history of monasticism in early Anglo-Saxon England explores the history of the church between the conversion to Christianity in the sixth century and a monastic revival in the tenth. It represents the ﬁrst comprehensive revision of accepted views about monastic life in England before the Benedictine reform. Sarah Foot shows how early Anglo-Saxon religious houses were simultaneously active and contemplative, their members withdrawing from the preoccupations of contemporary aristocratic society while in a very real sense remaining part of that world. Focusing on the institution of the ‘minster’ (the communal religious household) and rejecting a simplistic binary division between active ‘minsters’ and enclosed ‘monasteries’, Foot argues that historians have been wrong to see minsters in the light of ideals of Benedictine monasticism. Instead, she demonstrates that Anglo-Saxon minsters reﬂected more of contemporary social attitudes; despite their aim for solitude, they retained close links to aristocratic secular society.

SAR AH FOO T is Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Christ Church, Oxford.

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-73908-5 - Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600–900 Sarah Foot Frontmatter More information

Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600--900

SARAH FOOT Christ Church, Oxford

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Foot, Sarah. Monastic life in Anglo-Saxon England, c. 600--900 / Sarah Foot. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-521-85946-2 (hardback) ISBN-10: 0-521-85946-8 (hardback) 1. Monastic and religious life -- England -- History -- Middle Ages, 600--1500. 2. England -- Church history -- 449--1066. I. Title. BX2592.F66 2006 271.00942’09021 -- dc22 2006013834

isbn 978-0-521-85946-2 Hardback isbn 978-0-521-73908-5 Paperback

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Contents

List of plates page vii List of figures ix Preface xi List of abbreviations xiii

1 Introduction: situating the problem 1 Deﬁnition of terms 7 Approach and method 12 Retrospective readings 14 A contemporary perspective 22 Historiographical contexts 27 Monastic life in England c. 600--900 31 2 The ideal minster 34 Minsters as total institutions 38 Organising space 42 Regulating communal life 48 The monastic family 69

Part I Within the walls 3 The making of minsters 75 The foundation of minsters 77 The endowment of minsters 87 The physical character of early minster sites 96 The economic basis of the religious life 120 The control of monastic lands and endowments 127 The making of minsters 134 v

Contents

4 The minster community 138 Monastic vocations 139 Entry to the religious life 152 Monastic discipline 166 The minster community 172 Conclusion 184 5 Daily life within minsters 186 Prayer and worship 189 Manual labour 211 Education and learning 226 Food and drink 232 Leisure 239 Conclusion 247

Part II Without the walls 6 Dependencies, afﬁnities, clusters 251 Monastic friendships 253 The Wilfridian afﬁnity 258 Irish and Frankish models 265 Medeshamstede and its colonies 268 Clusters and dependencies 276 Conclusion 280 7 Minsters in the world 283 The cure of souls 285 The laity and the minster 321 Conclusion 331

Coda 8 Horizons 339

Bibliography 350 Index 389

Plates

I The Rule of St Benedict: Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Hatton 48, fo. 93. With permission of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. page 2 II Bede, Historia ecclesiastica: London, British Library, Cotton MS Tiberius A. xiv, fo. 84. With permission of the British Library Board. 21 III The St Gall plan: St Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 1092. With permission of the Stiftsbibliothek, St Gallen. 36 IV Escomb church, County Durham. 104 V Church of St Laurence, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. 115 VI Bede, Letter to Ecgberht, bishop of York, AD 734: London, British Library, Harley MS 4688, fo. 93v. With permission of the British Library Board. 129 VII Aldhelm, De uirginitate: London, British Library, Royal MS 7 D. xxiv, fos. 85v--86. With permission of the British Library Board. 148 VIII Durham, Liber Vitae: London, British Library, Cotton MS Domitian A. vii, fo. 18b (list of abbots beginning with Ceolfrith). With permission of the British Library Board. 177 IX Durham Gospel Book: Durham, Cathedral Library, MS A. II. 10, fo. 2r. With permission of Durham Cathedral. 217 X Binding of the Stonyhurst Gospel of St John, on loan to the British Library from Stonyhurst College with permission of the Society of Jesus (British Province). 220 XI Franks casket: London, British Museum. Front face; left: scene from legend of Weland the smith; right: Adoration of the Magi c copyright the Trustees of the British Museum. 221 vii

List of plates

XII Hexham plaque: London, British Museum. c Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum. 222 XIII Brandon plaque: London, British Museum. c Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum. 223 XIV Sarcophagus panel from Breedon-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire. 270 XV Arched panel from Breedon-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire. 271

viii

Figures

1 Map of houses connected with the tenth-century monastic revolution. page 15 2 Map of bishoprics and minsters to c. 850 (after Campbell (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons, fig. 72). 32 3 Plan of the excavations at Flixborough (after Loveluck, ‘A high-status Anglo-Saxon settlement’). 98 4 Minsters situated at Iron Age hill-forts: (a) Hanbury (after Hooke, Anglo-Saxon Landscapes of the West Midlands, fig. 2.6 (iii)); (b) Aylesbury (after Blair, ‘Minster churches in the landscape’, fig. 2.1). 100 5 Minsters located in former Roman forts: (a) Bradwell-on-Sea and (b) Reculver (after Blair, ‘Anglo-Saxon minsters’, fig. 10.6); (c) Burgh Castle (after Charles Green); (d) Lincoln (after Rodwell, ‘Churches in the landscape’, fig. 2). 102 6 Curvilinear monastic enclosures: (a) Tetbury; (b) Bisley; (c) Bampton; and (d) Lambourn (after Blair, ‘Anglo-Saxon minsters’, fig. 10.2). 105 7 Monastic influences on modern town-plans: (a) Wimborne, Dorset and (b) Lambourn, Berkshire (after Blair, ‘Minster churches in the landscape’, fig. 2.3). 107 8 Jarrow, layout of church and monastic buildings (after Cramp, ‘Jarrow church’, fig. 30). 109 9 Aligned church-groups: (a) Lindisfarne (after Blair, ‘Early churches at Lindisfarne); (b) Glastonbury (after Radford, ‘Glastonbury Abbey before 1184’ and Blair, ‘Anglo-Saxon minsters’, fig. 10.10); (c) Wells ix

List of figures

(after Rodwell, ‘Churches in the landscape’, fig. 6); (d) St Augustine’s Canterbury (after Taylor and Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, fig. 61). 112 10 Map of minsters housing women to c. 850. 175 11 Map of monastic affinities (excluding Medeshamstede and its colonies). 257 12 Map of Medeshamstede and its colonies. 269

Preface

Readers who have also undergone the academic rite of passage that is the successful defence of a doctoral thesis will recall how their euphoria was tempered by the conflicting advice they were given about publishing their research. Few will have proved so unwise as to reject all of it and sit on a wholly-unrevised manuscript for many years. This book now takes a form quite distinct both from the original thesis from which it derives and from the various versions that I might have written earlier. I do not, however, regret the delay. Various projects that have filled the intervening period -- particularly my work on female monasticism -- have led me to a different understanding both of the nature of the religious life in early Anglo-Saxon England and of the factors that have clouded historical understanding of the early English church. The revisionist interpretation offered here modi- fies some of my own earlier statements as well as questioning conventional readings of the contemporary literature. Over the years on which I have worked on this project I have incurred debts to so many individuals that it would be invidious to attempt to list them all here, but some deserve particular thanks. Rosamond McKitterick supervised the original thesis and has continued to offer support and assistance ever since. No less significant in shaping my thinking and understanding of the pre-Conquest period has been Simon Keynes. Nicholas Brooks has been unfailingly supportive. He and Thomas Charles-Edwards read the entire manuscript in draft and offered a number of suggestions for its significant improvement: they bear no responsibility for the errors that remain. I have also learnt a great deal from Lesley Abrams, Julia Crick, David Dumville and xi

Preface

Susan Kelly. It is a great sadness that Patrick Wormald, to whom I owe so much, did not live to see this finished text. My early thinking about Anglo- Saxon minsters is heavily indebted to John Blair, with whom I have had numerous stimulating exchanges. This manuscript was completed before the appearance of his book, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society (Oxford University Press, 2005), which offers a different reading of early English religion, but I have not thought it right to revise my book to take account of his. All the staff of Cambridge University Library have been unfailingly helpful and I owe particular thanks to Godfrey Waller and his colleagues in the Manuscripts Room. My own colleagues at Sheffield have shown great patience in tolerat- ing the long delay in producing this text. Meanwhile my doctoral students -- James Palmer, Morn Capper, Geoff Little and Martha Riddiford -- have not only taught me a great deal but also patiently endured many conversations about minsters of only tangential relevance to their own work. In the pro- duction of this book Debby Banham’s assistance has been invaluable. On a personal note, I must acknowledge the significant encouragement given over many years by Geoff Schrecker: without his continuing faith in this project I would have abandoned it many times. My gratitude to Michael and Matthew for their loving support during my immersion in minsters goes beyond words.

xii

Abbreviations

Alcuin, Ep. Epistolae, ed. Ernst Dümmler, MGH, Epistolae Karolini Aevi II Alcuin, Versus: ‘Versus de patribus regibus et sanctis euboricensis ecclesiae’, in Peter Godman (ed.), Alcuin: The Bishops, Kings and Saints of York (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982) Alfred, Preface Alfred, prose preface to his translation of Gregory the Great, Cura pastoralis, ed. Henry Sweet, King Alfred’s West Saxon Version of Gregory’s Pastoral Care, 2 vols., EETS, o.s. 45 and 50 (London: N. Trübner, 1871--2) AntJ Antiquaries Journal ArchJ Archaeological Journal ASC Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ASE Anglo-Saxon England BAR British Archaeological Reports BCS Walter de Gray Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum: A Collection of Charters relating to Anglo-Saxon History, 3 vols. (London: Whiting & Co, 1883--99) Bede, Homelia Bedae venerabilis opera, pars III: Opera homiletica, ed. David Hurst, CCSL 122 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1955) Boniface, Ep. Epistolae, ed. Michael Tangl, Die Briefe des Heiligen Bonifatius und Lullus, MGH, Epistolae selectae I (Berlin, 1916) C&S Councils & Synods, I: AD 871--1204, with other Documents relating to the English Church, ed. Dorothy Whitelock, Martin Brett and C. N. L. Brooke (Oxford: Clarendon, 1981) CCSL Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina (Turnhout: Brepols) xiii

List of abbreviations

DACL Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie EETS Early English Text Society EHD English Historical Documents, I: c. 500--1042, ed. Dorothy Whitelock (2nd edn, London: Eyre Methuen; New York: Oxford University Press, 1979) EpEcg Bede, Epistola ad Ecgberhtum episcopum, ed. Charles Plummer, Venerabilis Bedae, opera historica, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896), I, 405--23 HA Bede, Historia abbatum, ed. Charles Plummer, Venerabilis Bedae, opera historica, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896), I, 364--87 HBC Handbook of British Chronology, 3rd edn, E. B. Fryde, S. Porter and I. Roy, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks 2 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1986) HE Bede, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. and trans. Bertram Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969) H&S Arthur West Haddan and William Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1869--78) JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History LBG Liber beatae Gregorii papae, ed. Bertram Colgrave, The Earliest Life of Gregory the Great (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1968; paperback edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985) Liebermann, Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, ed. Felix Liebermann, Die Gesetze 3 vols. (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1903--16) MA Medieval Archaeology MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Hanover) PL Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne (Paris, 1844--64) RCHM Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) Resting-places Die Heiligen Englands, ed. Felix Liebermann (Hanover: Hahn, 1889) RM Regula Magistri, ed. Adalbert de Vogüé, La Règle du Maître, Sources chrétiennes 105--7 (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1964--5) RSB Regula S. Benedicti, ed. and trans. Timothy Fry, The Rule of St Benedict in Latin and English with Notes (Collegeville, MN: xiv Liturgical Press, 1981)

List of abbreviations

S P. H. Sawyer, ed., Anglo-Saxon Charters: An Annotated List and Bibliography, Royal Historical Society guides and handbooks 8 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1968). Now superseded by the Electronic Sawyer: http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/sdk13/chartwww/eSawyer. 99/eSawyer2.html SC Sources chrétiennes (Paris) SEHD Select English Historical Documents of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries, ed. Florence E. Harmer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1914) Settimane Settimane di studio del Centro italiano di studi sull’alto Medioevo (Spoleto) SSRM Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (London) VSB Vita S. Bonifatii, ed. Reinhold Rau, Briefe des Bonifatius: Willibalds Leben des Bonifatius. Nebst einigen zeitgenössischen Dokumenten (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1968) VSCeol. Vita S. Ceolfridi, ed. Charles Plummer, Venerabilis Bedae, opera historica, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896), I, 388--404 VSCuth. Vita S. Cuthberti, ed. and trans. B. Colgrave, Two Lives of Saint Cuthbert: A Life by an Anonymous Monk of Lindisfarne and Bede’s Prose Life (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1940) VSG Vita S. Guthlaci, ed. and trans. Bertram Colgrave, Felix’s Life of Saint Guthlac (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956; paperback edition, 1985) VSL Rudolf, Vita Leobae abbatissae Biscofesheimensis, ed. G. Waitz, MGH, Scriptores, XVI (Hanover: Hahn, 1887), 118--31 VSW Vita S. Wilfridi, ed. and trans. Bertram Colgrave, The Life of Bishop Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1927) Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the Commentary English People: A Historical Commentary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988)